Purple Car Leads Cops To Suspect

Teen Is Denied Bond In Waukegan Slaying

As getaway cars go, a purple Chevrolet lowrider with balloon tires might be one that would-be criminals would steer clear of, in favor of, say, a nice, nondescript gray sedan.

But it was that conspicuous Chevy--described variously as "Hawaiian violet" and "orchid purple"--that helped lead police to the man they described as a gang member and accused of killing 22-year-old Jose Soto as he walked toward home along Washington Boulevard in Waukegan last week.

Carlos Arroyo, 19, of Waukegan is charged with first-degree murder. Authorities alleged he approached Soto from behind and shot him three times in the back and legs with a .25-caliber handgun about 6 p.m. May 7.

Investigators say revenge was the motive.

Rival gang members believed Soto was the man who shot one of their own in the stomach in a Waukegan police station parking lot last year, said Michael Mermel, chief of felony review for the Lake County state's attorney's office.

Unlike the victim of that September 1995 shooting, Soto did not survive. He was pronounced dead about 40 minutes after the shooting at Waukegan's St. Therese Medical Center. The homicide, according to police, was Waukegan's first of the year.

On Tuesday, a judge denied bond for Arroyo, who will remain in the Lake County Jail until his next court appearance, Tuesday. Wearing a purple T-shirt, Arroyo testified he lived with friends and had little money.

"I have no means of paying for an attorney," he said.

Armed with two outstanding warrants and information obtained by questioning other gang members, police arrested Arroyo Friday inside the Zion apartment of Juan Salgado, who police said owns the purple Chevy.

Police said that they knocked on Salgado's door and that when it opened, they saw Arroyo throw a handgun on the living room floor.

Salgado, 19, and his wife, Cynthia Salgado, 20, were arrested on drug and gun charges after police searched the apartment and allegedly found four handguns, gun parts, 200 rounds of ammunition, 7.7 grams of rock cocaine and 151 grams of marijuana.

Juan Salgado has not been charged as an accomplice in the slaying, Mermel said. Salgado allegedly implicated Arroyo in the shooting.

An investigation by Waukegan Detectives David Yarc, Artis Yancey and Mark Tkadletz led to a witness' identification of Arroyo as the shooting suspect and identification of the getaway car, police said.